Job history

Family

What makes you qualified to hold this office and better qualified than your opponents?

As a mom and U.S. government teacher, I have firsthand knowledge of what our communities need. I have seen the struggles and challenges that our families face and the impact that federal legislation has on our communities back home. I’ve also worked two jobs most of my life to help support my family. There aren’t a lot of folks like me in Congress.

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If you are elected, what are your top 2 to 3 priorities for your new (or next) term in office?

I want to focus on increasing wages for the hard-working folks of Tennessee and ensuring that everyone has access to affordable local healthcare.

I also believe we need a strong investment in infrastructure. Cities need roads and bridges, we need high speed internet access in every community, and I will work across the aisle to see that this gets done.

What are you hearing most from voters about what they want you to accomplish, if elected?

Voters want an investment in our communities. They want to know that after a hard day’s work they have something in their pockets to show for it. Every day when I’m out knocking doors, I hear frustration with the partisan bickering in Congress. Voters tell me don’t care about the D or R by the name, just that you listen to their stories and fight for them to get things done.

Will you commit to being civil in how you present yourself and the way you interact with opponents and others?

Yes

Is there anything else you would like us to know about you, your values and priorities?

I decided to run for Congress because the divisiveness in the 2016 Election was impacting my classroom. Family members were unfriending each other on Facebook, people were avoiding sitting by folks at church because of the hat they wore or the bumper sticker on their car.

We need to move past that and elect people who will work across the aisle to find solutions to our hardest problems. Our leaders need to be able to have different ideas and be able to come together to solve problems. That’s what I’ve always done in my life and that’s what I want to do in Washington.

The questionnaires were organized and compiled by Opinion and Engagement Editor David Plazas, a member of The Tennessean Editorial Board, which also includes VP and Editor Michael A. Anastasi and Executive Editor Maria De Varenne. Email him at dplazas@tennessean.com, call him at (615) 259-8063 or tweet to him at @davidplazas.